7% of internet users in Nigeria suffered phishing attacks in 2022

In 2022, Kaspersky’s (www.Kaspersky.co.za) anti-phishing system globally stopped more than 500 million attempts to reach phony websites. When compared to 2021 statistics, this is two times more. 8.7% of individuals and business users in Africa were victims of phishing attacks, which were discovered and prevented. Nigeria comes in third with 7% of users affected, Kenya comes in second with 8.4%, and South Africa has 9.7% of people affected. Kaspersky’s Spam and Phishing in 2022 study (https://apo-opa.info/3Zc1idO) provides comprehensive information on the state of spam and phishing globally.

Although while phishing and spam attacks are not always technologically advanced, they rely on sophisticated social engineering techniques that make them extremely harmful for individuals who are unaware of them. Fraudsters are adept at developing phishing websites that look just like the legitimate websites they steal personal information from or urge the transfer of money to. According to Kaspersky analysts, phishing was used by cybercriminals more frequently in 2022. 507,851,735 attempts to access fraudulent content were effectively rejected by the company’s anti-phishing technology in 2022, more than double the amount of attacks stopped in 2021.

Delivery services were the industry most commonly the subject of phishing attempts. Fraudsters send false emails claiming to be from well-known delivery services and to report a delivery issue. The email contains a link to a bogus website that requests money or personal information. If the victim falls for the fraud, they risk losing their identity and having their banking details sold to dark web websites.

Online shops and financial services were the most frequently targeted industries for financial phishing. 15.4% of financial phishing efforts in South Africa used fake payment system websites, 68.4% used fake online retailers, and 16.2% used fake bank portal websites. 22.5% of financial phishing efforts in Kenya used fake payment system websites, 54.9% used fake online retailers, and 22.6% used fake bank portal websites. Also, 31.1% of financial phishing attempts in Nigeria were made using phony payment system websites, followed by phony online store websites (51.2%) and phony bank websites (17.8%).

The 2022 phishing scene will see a surge in the dissemination of attacks through messengers, with the bulk of stopped attempts coming from WhatsApp, followed by Telegram and Viber, according to Kaspersky analysts.

Cybercriminals are also becoming more and more interested in social media credentials. By presenting phony updates and verified account status on social media platforms, they prey on people’s curiosity and desire for privacy.

Also, the analysts discovered that phishing attackers continue to utilize cryptocurrency schemes and market catastrophes like the pandemic to acquire sensitive information from consumers who are scared and concerned. These con artists are stealing sensitive information by preying on people’s anxieties and insecurities.

One of the most pervasive and dangerous threats in the cybersecurity world is phishing. Phishing pages are the beginning of a long chain of events that can lead to identity theft, financial loss, and reputational harm for both individual customers and corporations since they are the entry point to many of the greatest cyber dangers. Everyone must be aware of the danger and take precautions to stay safe, says Olga Svistunova, a security expert at Kaspersky.

• Kaspersky experts suggest the following to prevent falling victim to spam or phishing-based scams:
• Only click links in emails if you are certain you can trust the sender.
• It is worthwhile to contact the sender via a different channel of communication when a sender is reliable but the message’s contents look odd.
• If you think you’re on a phishing page, look at the URL to make sure it’s not misspelled. If you are, the URL might include errors in it that are difficult to identify at first glance, like a 1 for an I or a 0 for an O.
• When browsing the web, use a tried-and-true security program (https://apo-opa.info/3EQxD1D). These systems can identify and thwart spam and phishing campaigns because they have access to global threat intelligence sources.
• Visit Securelist.com’s research to learn more about spam and phishing in 2022 (https://apo-opa.info/3Zc1idO).